and i think it was jon stewart said upon seeing a picture of john boehner recently that he looked like the world's saddest tangerine. but yeah. this exposes john boehner's weakness. political weakness. this is what he wanted for years, the speaker. he got speakership because of the tidal wave of tea party people coming in. but be careful what you wish for, having gotten that majority, he can't govern that majority. he is downstairs and we're waiting to see what happens, one by one, pleading with people to try to get the votes he needs, and he is short. according to people i talked to, he is short. it is humiliating, doesn't want to go through it again. i think he will be challenged some point soon whatever happens on the point. >> huffington post, howard fineman, sam stein, thank you both for joining me tonight. >> thank you. >> thank you. >>> coming up, the republicans say they want deficit reduction. what they really mean is government reduction. ezra klein joins me. >>> and an epic battle between partiers is raging. inside the mind of one u.s. senator, john mccain. the rewrite is ne